Decoding Hexagram Shan Feng Gu (Mountain over Wind) in the I Ching - Structure and Lessons

What number is the Shan Feng Gu hexagram, and how is it composed?

The Shan Feng Gu hexagram (蠱) is the 18th of the 64 hexagrams in the Zhou Yi sequence. The upper trigram is Gen (Mountain), the lower trigram is Xun (Wind). The image is wind blowing at the foot of the mountain, blocked by the mountain, suggesting long-standing stagnation. The character Gu (蠱) originally referred to food that has rotted and bred insects, implying decay that accumulates from within.

The Gu hexagram is placed immediately after the Sui hexagram (隨) in the order of the 64 hexagrams; tradition explains that following along without correction inevitably produces decay.

What does the original text of the Shan Feng Gu hexagram record?

The classic text portion of the Gu hexagram consists of the judgment and the six line texts. Tradition attributes the classic text to King Wen of Zhou or the Duke of Zhou; modern scholarship does not regard that attribution as proven, and generally places this classic text around the late 9th century BCE in the Western Zhou period.

The judgment (transcribed in the original):

> 蠱：元亨。利涉大川。先甲三日，後甲三日。

Sino-Vietnamese reading: Cổ: Nguyên hanh, lợi thiệp đại xuyên. Tiên giáp tam nhật, hậu giáp tam nhật.

Close translation: Gu: greatly successful, favorable to cross the great river. Three days before the Jia day, three days after the Jia day.

The six line texts (transcribed in the original):

• First six: 幹父之蠱，有子考，无咎，厲終吉。 (Can phụ chi cổ, hữu tử khảo, vô cữu, lệ chung cát. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the father, having a son who carries on the father's will, no fault, though perilous, in the end auspicious.)
• Nine second: 幹母之蠱，不可貞。 (Can mẫu chi cổ, bất khả trinh. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the mother, one cannot stubbornly hold to the usual rule.)
• Nine third: 幹父之蠱，小有悔，无大咎。 (Can phụ chi cổ, tiểu hữu hối, vô đại cữu. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the father, there is a little regret, no great fault.)
• Six fourth: 裕父之蠱，往見吝。 (Dụ phụ chi cổ, vãng kiến lận. Close meaning: broadening the decay of the father, going forward one will meet hardship.)
• Six fifth: 幹父之蠱，用譽。 (Can phụ chi cổ, dụng dự. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the father, one earns praise.)
• Upper nine: 不事王侯，高尚其事。 (Bất sự vương hầu, cao thượng kỳ sự. Close meaning: not serving kings and lords, keeping one's affairs in a lofty place.)

The line texts carry the social norms of ancient times such as father and son, mother and son, ruler and minister, man and woman; this is historical context, and should not be read directly as advice for today.

What do the Tuan Commentary and the Xiang Commentary say about the Gu hexagram?

The Tuan Commentary and the Xiang Commentary belong to the Ten Wings, traditionally attributed to Confucius; modern scholarship places them around the 5th to 2nd century BCE, and does not regard the attribution to Confucius as proven. These are commentaries, not merged into the classic text.

The Tuan Commentary records:

> 蠱，剛上而柔下，巽而止，蠱。蠱，元亨，而天下治也。利涉大川，往有事也。先甲三日，後甲三日，終則有始，天行也。

Close translation: Gu, the firm above and the yielding below, compliant and stopping, hence Gu. Gu is greatly successful, because the world is governed. Favorable to cross the great river, because going forward there is work to do. Three days before the Jia day, three days after the Jia day, when it ends there is a beginning, this is the way of heaven.

The Great Xiang (Xiang Commentary) records:

> 山下有風，蠱；君子以振民育德。

Close translation: Wind below the mountain, this is Gu; the noble person accordingly stirs the people and nurtures virtue.

The six Small Xiang:

• First six: 幹父之蠱，意承考也。 (Can phụ chi cổ, ý thừa khảo dã. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the father, the intent is to carry on the father.)
• Nine second: 幹母之蠱，得中道也。 (Can mẫu chi cổ, đắc trung đạo dã. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the mother, one attains the way of the middle.)
• Nine third: 幹父之蠱，終无咎也。 (Can phụ chi cổ, chung vô cữu dã. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the father, in the end no fault.)
• Six fourth: 裕父之蠱，往未得也。 (Dụ phụ chi cổ, vãng vị đắc dã. Close meaning: broadening the decay of the father, going forward one gains nothing.)
• Six fifth: 幹父用譽，承以德也。 (Can phụ dụng dự, thừa dĩ đức dã. Close meaning: correcting the decay of the father and earning praise, one carries on through virtue.)
• Upper nine: 不事王侯，志可則也。 (Bất sự vương hầu, chí khả tắc dã. Close meaning: not serving kings and lords, such resolve can serve as a model.)

How does Wang Bi comment on the Gu hexagram?

Wang Bi (226 to 249) commented on the Zhou Yi, and Kong Yingda's subcommentary was combined with it into the Zhou Yi Zhengyi. The Nhật Nguyệt fact table currently extracts only Wang Bi's commentary for this hexagram; Zhu Xi's commentary in the Zhou Yi Benyi has not yet been extracted, so Zhu Xi is not cited here.

Wang Bi's commentary on the Tuan Commentary:

• On the line 蠱，元亨而天下治也: 有為而大亨，非天下治而何也？ (There is action and great success, if it is not the world being governed, then what is it?)
• On the lines 利涉大川，往有事也。先甲三日，後甲三日，終則有始，天行也: 蠱者有事而待能之時也。可以有為，其在此時矣。物巳說隨，則待夫作制以定其事也。進德修業，往則亨矣。故元亨，利涉大川也。甲者，創制之令也。創制不可責之以舊，故先之三日，後之三日，使令治而後乃誅也。因事申令，終則復始，若天之行用四時也。

Close translation: Gu is a time when there is work and one awaits a capable person. One may act, and it is precisely in this time. When things have already followed along in compliance, then one awaits the establishing of regulations to settle those affairs. Advancing in virtue and cultivating one's work, going forward one will be successful. Therefore greatly successful, favorable to cross the great river. Jia means the command that creates regulations. What is newly created cannot be reproached with the old, therefore three days before it, three days after it, so that the command is settled and only afterwards is it carried out. Issuing commands in accordance with affairs, when it ends it begins again, like heaven's movement through the four seasons.

Wang Bi's commentary on the line texts:

• First six: 處事之首，始見任者也。以柔巽之質，幹父之事，能承先軌，堪其任者也，故曰有子也。任為事首，能堪其事，考乃無咎也，故曰有子考無咎也。當事之首，是以危也。能堪其事，故終吉。 (At the head of affairs, one who is first entrusted. With a soft and compliant nature, correcting the father's affairs, able to carry on the former track, one who is fit for the task, therefore it says there is a son. Entrusted at the head of affairs, able to bear the task, only then is the father without fault, therefore it says having a son who carries on the father's will, the father is without fault. Being at the head of affairs, therefore there is peril. Able to bear the task, therefore in the end auspicious.)
• Nine second: 居於內中，宜幹母事，故曰幹母之蠱也。婦人之性難可全正，宜屈已剛。既幹且順，故曰不可貞也。幹不失中，得中道也。 (Dwelling within, in the middle, one should correct the mother's affairs, therefore it says correcting the decay of the mother. A woman's nature is hard to make entirely upright, one should bend one's own firmness. Since one corrects and also complies, therefore it says one cannot be stubborn. Correcting without losing the middle, one attains the way of the middle.)
• Nine third: 以剛幹事，而無其應，故有悔也。履得其位，以正幹父，雖小有悔，終無大咎。 (Using firmness to handle affairs, yet without a response, therefore there is regret. Treading in one's proper place, correcting the father with uprightness, though there is a little regret, in the end there is no great fault.)
• Six fourth: 體柔當位，幹不以剛而以柔和，能裕先事者也。然無其應，往必不合，故曰往見吝。 (The substance is yielding and in the proper place, correcting not with firmness but with yielding harmony, one who can broaden the earlier affairs. Yet without a response, going forward one will certainly not fit, therefore it says going forward one meets hardship.)
• Six fifth: 以柔處尊，用中而應，承先以斯，用譽之道也。 (With yielding, dwelling in the honored place, using the middle and having a response, carrying on what came before in this way, this is the way of earning praise.)
• Upper nine: 最處事上而不累於位，不事王侯，高尚其事也。 (At the very top of affairs yet not entangled by position, not serving kings and lords, keeping one's affairs in a lofty place.)

In Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, what does the Gu hexagram suggest?

In Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, the name of the Gu hexagram carries two sides: it points to decay that has accumulated and to the work of correcting that decay. The judgment says greatly successful, favorable to cross the great river, meaning this time is not merely bad, but opens the possibility of correction. The Tuan Commentary places this work in the current of ending and then beginning again, like the four seasons moving. The Great Xiang says the noble person accordingly stirs the people and nurtures virtue, meaning it directs the work of repair toward people and not only toward regulations.

In Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, the six line texts sketch different attitudes when facing what is old and has decayed: some bear the work of correction from the start, so it is perilous yet in the end auspicious; some must bend themselves when correcting matters that fall within a softer scope; some correct with firmness, so there is a little regret but no great fault; some broaden the decay and let it pass, so going forward they meet hardship; some correct and earn praise; some leave position behind and keep a lofty resolve. These are stances, not formulas to apply to every case.

When encountering the Shan Feng Gu hexagram while asking about work, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: when work or an organization has accumulated problems, one should spend the early period identifying the root correctly, not only treating the tips. Wang Bi comments that Gu is a time when there is work and one awaits a capable person, and that what is newly created cannot be reproached with the old, meaning renewal needs a roadmap rather than immediate demolition. Major decisions about money or personnel should be weighed carefully, and one should not rely entirely on a single hexagram to decide.

When encountering the Gu hexagram while asking about family and relationships, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the First six, Nine second, Nine third, Six fourth and Six fifth lines speak of correcting the decay of parents, which belongs to the family context of ancient times with its own norms; read today, it should be understood as carrying on and correcting what has gone askew in the household, and not turned into advice about marriage or gender roles. In close relationships, recognizing the decayed place is already most of the work of repair; the specific outcome depends on circumstances, and should not be asserted in advance.

When encountering the Gu hexagram while asking about health and personal habits, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the Gu hexagram speaks of decay accumulated over a long time, so if applied to personal habits, the direction is to review old living patterns, the ruts that have become ingrained habits. This is a suggestion for self-examination, not a diagnosis or medical advice; specific health matters should be asked of a professional.

Quick reference table: the Shan Feng Gu hexagram

The figures in the table match the results of the lookup tools on Nhật Nguyệt.